Posted 10th August 2014 1818

Today I went to take my professional licensing exam. This is the exam that is a culmination of six years of university education, hundreds of hours of unpaid internships, and weeks of pre-exam study. I had managed to remain quite calm in the days prior to the exam and had gotten myself psyched up to pass it. I made sure I arrived extra early at the testing center so as not to miss my appointment and had brought all my identification and paperwork with me.

But when I presented my driver’s license and valid credit card to the woman at reception, the next question I heard was, “Is there a reason your middle name isn’t here?”

I didn’t know what to say for a second. My middle name was on my driver’s license and my middle initial was on my credit card. “Umm… no.”

She passed my cards back to me. “You won’t be admitted to the test today.”

That was the start of my breakdown. Apparently the name that they had on record for me did not contain my middle name or middle initial, thus it did not match my IDs. I like to believe that I remained reasonable despite my inner panic and outward crumbling. Apparently there was nothing the woman could do except file an incident report, and I would have to follow up and re-schedule.

And sometimes these things happen, and yes I should have read the fine print more closely, but what REALLY gets me riled up is just how STUPID the whole registration and admittance process is.

The testing center requires two forms of ID, one photo ID, they take a photograph of you there, get your signature to match it to the record, and scan your palm all to identify you. But if you have one absent middle initial you can’t be admitted because maybe you are not you.

So how do I deal with this issue now? Here’s the kicker. I have to get my name changed on the authorization letter so that it contains my middle initial. And how do I do that? All I have to do is send the authorizing board a photocopy of my driver’s license… the same license that was in my hand, that I gave to the receptionist, at the test center that very day.

I’ve calmed down significantly (notice the mostly PG language here) but I’m still fluctuating between seething anger and despair. I now have to pay the $300 for the exam AGAIN because I missed my appointment, and wait another two weeks for an open appointment. And I’m not looking forward to admitting to my employer what happened…

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